Saturday, September 8, 2018

Weekend Open Thread

Giving the people what they want.

31 comments:

  1. Goodbye, Burt. I will watch a film in your honor this weekend.

    Scary Movie Month is less than a month away now. I have been warming up to it recently by revisiting some Italian horror on Prime: THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES, THE NEW YORK RIPPER, and THE BLANCHVILLE MONSTER. The Blanchville Monster was an interesting experience of memory confronting the reality of a film. It was not so good this time around, but the atmosphere remains terrific. Regarding the NYR, I am still not sure about the duck voice being a good decision.

    Last week I watched an Italian film called A SPECIAL DAY (1977) starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastriani. It is a beautifully rendered story about two people in oppressive lives. It manages to be uplifting despite the gloomy atmosphere. If you like Italian cinema, this definitely a film to seek out.

    I was at the drive-in last weekend watching the wonderful ZARDOZ and the weird post-apocalyptic film A BOY AND HIS DOG, which features a young Don Johnson. It was a fun night.

    This week I only watched few things.

    ROGER AND ME (1989) – I usually find Michael Moore’s self-righteousness hard to take. With Roger and Me, perhaps because it comes from a very personal place, there is a sincerity that tempers the Moore persona. The anger of seeing his hometown torn apart by automobile plant closures is understandable. It is, moreover, an early document of deindustrialization that speaks to what many communities are still going through.

    INFERNO (1980) – Dario Argento’s follow-up to Suspiria is beautifully staged and shot. Beyond the aesthetics, though, I struggled to enjoy the film. The plot seemed more like series of ideas than a cohesive story. While the same could be said about Suspiria, that film at least has the character of Suzie to tie everything together.

    SPEED (1994) – The 1990s is not a period that I like. By the time Speed came out, I was avoiding mainstream American films and TV shows. I saw that Speed was on TV this week and decided to finally watch it. I found it entertaining. In spite of the very contrived nature of the plot and the expected happy ending, I was very impressed by the feeling of danger and chaos created in the bus scenes. The editing throughout the film is excellent, keeping the pace quick but not making the film seem rushed. The stunts and explosions are great to watch in these days of CGI.

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  2. Incredibles 2 is fine. The Finnish-American co-produced scifi film It Came from the Desert is bad. The Nice Guys is still great and the Star Wars prequels are even worse than I remembered. The Franco Nero star vehicle Top Line and the Italian scifi Eyes Behind the Stars are also bad, but of the good bad variety. So how's everybody else's week been?

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  3. Measure of a Man (2018). Felt like the story had potential but the filmmaker didn't know how to make the most of it. Until the end scene there were no "movie-ish" moments to make it fun or interesting.

    Hard to believe Mac Miller is gone. I feel like on Thursday I was hoping he wouldn't die young, and on Friday he did. He was such a cutie.

    Oh, last week I saw The Hunt for Red October and young Alec Baldwin looks just like Ryan Gosling!! I guess everyone but me already knew this, but, I was like FLABBERGASTED. I think of Alec Baldwin as the most conventionally handsome movie star and Ryan Gosling as like a sexy odd duckling who doesn't closely resemble anyone in Hollywood. But...they're the same! I briefly dated a guy in college who I thought looked like Sean Connery (which was the only way I could mentally justify our 40 year age difference to myself), who had defected from Russia, too. I don't remember the details, only the stories of the KGB killing his friends and following his blood trail through the snow. It was so scary.

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  4. Anyone seen The Miseducation of Cameron Post? I thought it was pretty terrific. It'll make any thinking person very angry and upset because of the subject matter, but the movie does a good job of staying away from melodrama. It even find some laughs here and there. I was very impressed.

    The Nun was a big disappoint for me, which is weird considering I've never loved a Conjuring movie. I guess I was hoping for more from this one because of the Hammer aesthetic. No, it's more of the same.

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  5. i had the chance to see 2001 A Space Odyssey in IMAX. i will echo Adam Riske's sentiments from the last podcast in that i've seen it too many times (last time was in april, on blu-ray, actually) and i'm starting to not mind the movie anymore. not that seeing it in IMAX is not worth it, you really should go. i went to see it because it was my friend birthday gift, who loves the movie.

    i will point out that the theater was not even half full (300+ seats), but i think the showings are at too weird times. they were showing it at 12:55pm, 4:25pm and 7:55pm. which i think the 2nd one is too early and the 3rd one is too late (given that it's a 205 minutes movie).

    and there was a stupid idiot moron who kept taking picture of the screen. he was too far for me to get to him easily so i just managed to cover him by hiding him with the front seat. but it was distracting because i kept asking myself what was the point of the screenshots. and to add to the confusion, he was taking pictures of the most iconic shots of the movie. you know the one that will show up just by doing an image search on the movie. anyway, i barely go to the movies anymore for exactly stuff like that

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    1. Taking pictures? Why?....Why?

      Earlier this summer they showed a bunch of Kubrick movies at a local theater here (which was a welcome change from the stupid Rocky Horror that they love love love playing, again and again. Sigh). Unfortunately, I heard about it too late, and missed the showing of 2001. Doubly unfortunately, I was in a hockey league that played the same night, so I didn't end up seeing any. I would have missed a game for 2001 however.

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    2. 2001 is also a victim of too many viewings for me. I have seen it all the way through at least five times. If there ever is a chance to 2001 on a big screen, I would jump at the opportunity. As for watching it on TV or pulling my DVD, there is little motivation to devote another 2.5 hours of my life to it. There is a long list of other films I want to watch.

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    3. I think 2001 demands to be seen many times but I think over a long period of time. Maybe 5 years in between viewings to allow yourself to change and come in with a new perspective.

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  6. Thanks for providing this forum, Patrick. While it seems that the traffic has died down a bit, I think that might be just indicative of summer. I am willing to bet that during Scary Movie Month that it picks up dramatically.

    Saw Skyscraper. Whoa, that film is something. Spoiler - when he used his damn prosthetic foot to climb back into the window I spit my drink out I was laughing so hard. Neve was great and it made me miss seeing her.

    Besides that I have been revisiting a ton of Horror films I watched when I was young and forgot about. Last night I rewatched "Edge of the Axe" and "Funeral Home", both on VHS and both were a blast.

    Speaking of...I made the absolute worst decision ever to start collecting VHS again a few months ago. Mainly Horror and a few other films that are my favorites of all time like "The Private Eyes", "The Last Dragon", "Big Trouble in Little China" etc... I do not recommend anyone do this haha but I have to say, it is such a rewarding experience to track down a tape, get it in the mail, hold it, look at the artwork, pop in the player and watch it then place it on the shelf. I absolutely love it. I'm up to over 200 tapes already and it's really fun. So that being said, if there's any F Heads who have 70's and 80's VHS Horror or exploitation films that they were trying to get rid of, let your boy know!

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    1. Even though I don't get around to posting often, I too appreciate the "open thread", and am thankful it is here. Thanks!

      On a recent visit to my parents, I came across a box of old VHS tapes. They're mostly kids movies that were recorded onto VHS, probably mostly from Fox 29 Buffalo which we received on UHF. That was the station for movies. There were usually 3 movies per tape, recorded on EP mode so you could squeeze a lot in. So I imagine you aren't interested! But it was a fun trip down memory lane for me.

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    2. Thanks for the thought, Paul. That's awesome though, especially if those tapes had the commercials!

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    3. Oh, I didn't even think of the commercials! Sometimes we'd pause out the commercials, but certainly not for all. There are probably a couple movies missing 5 minute chunks too, because someone forgot to unpause the recording, haha!
      I didn't even think to ask if they still have a player kicking around. Although my parents hoarding tendencies tells me yes.

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  7. A few movies I've seen recently:

    The Insider (1999) - First view. Wow! Just Wow! I've been saving this for a while, as I really love Michael Mann, but was worried about the length and that the story seemed a bit boring. However, it's about as tense and riveting as a movie could be, and I didn't feel the time at all. Maybe Reserved Seating will cover this sometime. Pacino didn't let loose a single Hoo-Ahh! This is probably the best movie I've seen yet this year.

    Manhunter (1986) - First view. Another amazingly Mann movie. Although not as pronounced as his later movies, you could definitely see the style that Mann would later master. Tom Noonan was so very creepy. No one I know seems to have heard of this, with the exception of one lady who said it was terrible and that the book was better. Well, finally she hadn't even seen the movie. Also, she was thinking of Red Dragon (2002). Unfortunately, this is overshadowed by Silence of the Lambs (Point Break was robbed for Best Picture!), and the books which were quite popular. Can't we just enjoy/appreciate a movie on it's own merits, without constantly ranking/comparing them others. Rant over.

    Solo: A Star Wars Story - first view at the 2nd run theater. Perhaps the best of the Disney Star Wars movies? I loved it, anyways. It was interesting, listening to several podcasts afterwards, that everyone seemed to have a problem with the "chewy needs a nickname" line, and all spent 10 minutes talking about it (you're guilty too, fthismovie!). For me, it was a mere "I understand that reference", and chuckle, and continue on. I'm glad we're still getting Star Wars movies.

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    1. I always prefered Manhunter to Silence Of The Lamb (which is a great movie).

      I also prefer Brian Cox portrayal of Hannibal Lecter to Anthony Hopkins. I think Cox IS creepy while Hopkins is ACTING creepy. Anyway, that's me, i know people love SotL and Hopkins performance, and they're right.

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    2. Manhunter is a handshake movie for me. My favorite movie from my favorite director. The scene when Noonan is watching Joan Allen from the van is an exploding heart moment for me. Watch his face, it’s an acting tour-de-force that is simultaneously terrifying and heart-breaking. Glad you liked it!

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    3. Adam and I are getting to The Insider soon!

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    4. I first saw Manhunter on television in the early 1990s. I remember liking it a lot, with Tom Noonan making a strong impression. There has not be a complete viewing of the film since then. The aspect of it that has linger in my mind the longest is the soundtrack. I still listen to the Shriekback tracks from time to time.

      In an indirect way, Manhunter contributed to me becoming a reader. The film made me curious about the Thomas Harris novel. Red Dragon ended up being the first of hundreds of novels I read as an adolescent.

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  8. I'm attempting to watch a movie a day this year. But I'm not going to make it. I'm 2-3 weeks behind the pace. This is even counting movies I've half watched while folding laundry, and re-watches that I fell asleep half way through. I've even sat through everything the kids were watching, including all the Air Bud movies.
    Yup, I'm not going to be able to do it. Unless I quit hockey, and undergo a spat of unemployment.

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    1. Hey I'm doing the same thing!!! Made a pact with myself to watch 365 movies this year. I'm a bit behind but I'll make up for it with Scary Movie Month.

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  9. Just watched "Destination Wedding" and I really liked it. It's not as honest as the amazing "Comet" from 2014 but for having two huge stars and it being somewhat of a major production, the dialog, while overeggarated by 1000% and is executed like a play (much like the film) rang true to me. Good flick.

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  10. Saw Searching a second time. It will be on my year-end top ten. So good.

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    1. Is it because of John Cho? I'm wary of searching but I'm always ready to get my John Cho Flow on. He's the reason I saw all of The Exorcist season 2.

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    2. @Unknown- It's good all around. A must for John Cho fans.

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  11. Finally finished my Tales From the Dark Side series run. It was a brutal and punishing experience. 25% of the episodes were good. 25% at least had an actor I liked, and 50% were unwatchable. Stay away unless you are a glutton for punishment.

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  12. It’s time to look ahead to fall movies! I think First Man and A Star is Born are the two movies I’m most looking forward to in the latter part of this year. Both seem great!

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  13. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead: after listening to Mr Bromley talking about it a couple of times, i had to watch it. So i got the blu-ray. This is the last movie ever directed by the great Sydney Lumet, and as last movie go, this is one of the greats. At 82 years old, Lumet is as great as he ever was. Though he did seem to stumble a bit toward the middle of his career. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke give great performances as we're used to from them. A must see

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  14. Speaking of Burt, i hope everybody saw The Last Movie Star. A great farewell to the man that now mean something else since his passing

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  15. Finally got around to watching Hereditary. I loved it. I don't think there is anything else I can say that you already don't know other than; even though I had a few key things spoiled for me, it still was not the movie I thought it would be. And when it starting shooting toward 11 I loved it even more.

    I also watched Boogie Nights, my first watch since it came out. Wow! I forgot how much the movie is about movie making itself. And Burt is generally wonderful, but John C. Reilly really stole the movie for me.

    And lastly I watched Micheal Haneke's Cache or Hidden. And it fitted in with how I usually feel about Haneke. I don't think I completely understood it, and I need to watch it again, and unlike Piano Teacher I want to watch it again. There is this way Haneke hides everything in plain sight. Everything is bright and there is a video-esque quality to the whole thing, but everything is in subtext. It's amazing but I need to watch it again.

    Now off to the cinema to watch Crazy Rich Asians.

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  16. Can the Bandit and Snowman get the Coors beer to Georgia on time while outwitting the cops? Of course they can. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT is a rollicking good time with Burt Reynolds and company. The casting could not be better. This is definitely one of my top first-time watches this year.

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